Celeste
by Crystallyn
Summary: Slash. HP/ABVH crossover. Away from the Dursley's influence, Harry is allowed to blossom into a unique young man. With the gods at his back, and the sisters at his side, St. Louis will never be the same.
1. Prologue

Prologue

**Disclaimer** : Me + HP + Anita Blake **FAN**fiction. Harry Potter and Anita Blake belong to J.K. Rowling and Laurell K. Hamilton.

Greek Mythology… well, that belongs to whoever had enough imagination to come up with all that.

**A/N **: I'd like to thank EdgarAPoe for being my beta for this story! If you hadn't looked over the first one… I don't want to think about the reactions I would have gotten.

**Warnings** : Slash – in future chapters. MAYBE yaoi… but there definitely will be shounen-ai… and many fluffy moments.

**Prologue**

"_Life is just one damned thing after another._"

-Elbert Hubbard

_US author (1856 - 1915)_

Six-year-old Harry Potter glared up at number four Privet Drive. He was an adorable little child and the glare looked more like a pout. The boy was short for his age and had a feminine look to him. He had smooth, milky white skin and a heart shaped face with a cute button nose and pouty pink lips. His raven black hair was chin length and layered, his long fringe falling into a pair of large, vibrant, emerald green eyes.

Little Harry was no ordinary boy, no, he was a wizard. Unlike the majority of wizards his age though, he had a good grasp of wandless magic. He couldn't do everything that a fully trained wizard could do with a wand, but he could do enough to survive by himself.

Harry was shivering in the hand-me-downs from Dudley. The clothes were too big and dwarfed him, and since these were the only ones he was allowed, the clothes were little more than rags that had seen better days. The same could be said about his socks and shoes.

A cold gust of wind flew by that sent shivers through Harry's small body. Unable to handle the cold, Harry concentrated on the rags and the though of being warm until his clothes slowly changed into something more comfortable. He now wore a black t-shirt and dark blue overalls on top of that, with snug white socks and sneakers that fit him. A warm black jacket was worn over his clothes with a black and blue scarf wrapped snuggly around his neck, covering a silver necklace, while his glove covered hands held a stuffed animal.

While living with the Dursley's, Harry was able to keep two prized possession with him — an adorable stuffed penguin and a silver necklace with a stage, grim, wolf and lily hanging from it. They were the only possessions he still had from his time with his parents and he would kill himself before he allows the Dursley's to take it away from him.

Harry James Potter was sick of the neglect and abuse from his so called relatives, so he decided to do the only thing he could — run away. The child's magic wrapped around him like a comforting blanket while one thought played through his mind on repeat — _I want to be far away from here. Somewhere where I can fit in and be loved._

A soft breeze flew by, tossing falling leaves around before settling down around number four Privet Drive. Harry James Potter had successfully run away.

**Two Hours Later…**

_A Cave In The Middle Of a Beautiful Forest_

_Paris, France_

Harry looked around the cave with a relieved and somewhat shocked expression, and he had every reason to look at it like that.

When Harry had appeared in a thick forest after transporting himself away from Privet Drive, the clouds had started trickling clear water drops upon the earth. He had tilted his head back and allowed the drops to his face, making their journey down the contours of his cheeks and the curve of his lips. His emerald eyes had sparkled with childlike glee as he watched the sparse trickling of rain moisten the flowers and trees surrounding him, giving them a beauty that could only be appreciated by a lover of nature.

But all things had to come to an end, as Harry had found out. The minute darkening of clouds that had been present with the sparse rain had quickly continued darkening; as did the raindrops continue multiplying. It soon got to the point where Harry had to find some form of shelter quickly before he could get caught up in the eminent downpour.

He had been lucky when he had stumbled upon an unoccupied cave, just when the rain was picking up. The six-year-old quickly made his way inside and was immediately taken over by shock and relief.

The inside of the cave was lined with warm animal furs and there was a large supply of fruits and berries in the back of the cave; a warm fire was crackling in the middle of the room-like-caves.

Not thinking anything of it, Harry unwrapped his scarf, laid down his penguin on the spread-out furs, removed his coat and gloves and plopped himself down upon the furs, allowing the warmth of the crackling fire to seep through him and heat up his shivering frame.

Once he was warmed up, he got up on his feet and made his way over to the pile of food and picked out a fresh apple and some clean strawberries. He brought them back to the fire, where he sat down, munching on the fruits and enjoying the warmth.

With a full belly, and the heat of the fire making him drowsy, Harry curled around his penguin, holding it loosely in his arms, and allowed Morpheus to claim him.

Unbeknownst to him, three women were standing just inside the cave, watching him with warm expressions. They were all of a beauty surpassing mortal standards, their eyes holding a dreamy, out-there expression, and their pink lips set into a smile reminiscent of the Mona Lisa; it suggested that they knew something that you didn't, and taunted you with that.

"Oh, look at him, sisters. Isn't he the most precious thing you've ever seen? Even more so than when Aphrodite was but a babe?" the sister in the middle said.

"Amour, you know you shouldn't utter such things as that. We all know how vain Aphrodite can be, and you dare say something like that aloud, when she could hear." Amour looked back at the sister on her left, and just stared at her with a defiant expression.

"Vérité, you should know that Zeus wouldn't allow any harm to come to us, especially from his daughter. We are above the gods in the sense that even they fear and treasure us," the sister to the right of Amour told the other two, trying to keep the peace.

"Paix, you know that it wouldn't keep her from trying. She's as vain and fickle as the rest of them. It's from all the praises on her beauty since birth! Any mortal should know that a god's beauty would always surpass that of a human," Vérité snorted as she talked of the goddess of love.

"Oh, but sisters, you forget that our lovely Céleste is not but a human. On the eve of his maturity, he shall be an immortal as well. One with a beauty that surpasses the vain Aphrodite." Paix and Vérité looked shocked.

"Amour, have you been peeking into his future?" Paix asked suspiciously. They had their answer when Amour blushed, the soft pink staining her alabaster skin.

"What's done is done. Since she already knows the paths of his future, we shall allow Amour to be his guardian. She shall make sure that our Céleste picks the correct paths, so that no harm shall come to our future apprentice." Amour looked up at her older sister with shock and happiness.

"So it's decided. Our younger sister, Amour, shall be our Céleste's guardian." Paix said, as a glow surrounded both Amour and the sleeping child, unaware of the event occuring around him.

"I hope you'll take this seriously, and look out for him." Amour nodded, a happy grin on her face, lighting up her beautiful and perpetually young features.

Harry James Potter had been assigned Amour, the youngest of the three seers, as his guardian. The three sisters had claimed that same young boy as their apprentice come the near future. The gods could not possibly overlook this young boy, and they would come to hear of him sooner or later; when they did, Harry will never become just a normal kid like the others. He'll be something special.

_Fin._

**To Be Continued…**


	2. Chapter I

Chapter One

**Disclaimer: **See Prologue

**Warnings**: Nothing in this chapter. See prologue for the warnings that pertain to the story as a whole.

**A/N**: Sorry for getting this to you a little later than I was aiming for, but my beta was a little busy and I wanted her corrections and things before posting this up. So, read this and tell me what you think. And to those who read "**Ares**", which was the un-beta'd and original version of this… is this better?

So… on with the story!

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**Chapter One**

"It's not true that life is one damn thing after another; it is one damn thing over and over."

**Edna St. Vincent Millay**  
_US poet (1892 - 1950)_

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**Two Months Later…**

_Harry's Cave_

_Paris, France_

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It's been two months and Harry was happy, and he has every right to be. He has a comfortable cave, and the stock of fruits keep refreshing them every two weeks so he hasn't had to go out hunting yet. The furs were incredibly soft and in the night they kept him warm. Add on to that the fact that none of the animals had bothered (read: attacked) him as of yet. The only animals that he had come across were snakes, but they had always been nice to him.

Harry remembered just how he had found out about his special ability; the one that had allowed him to communicate with the snakes.

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**Three Weeks Earlier**

_Just outside the cave_

_Paris, France_

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"_Stupid Humans! They should be treating us with more respect, not as if we're unwanted pests!_"

Harry's eyes widened as he heard a voice grumbling to itself. The now seven-year-old slowly got to his feet and cautiously made his way closer to where the voice had come from.

As he got closer, he noticed that it came from behind a large bush. Another thing he noticed was that as the voice kept ranting, its words were becoming increasingly inappropriate until it got to a point where Harry's face was flaming a bright red color in his embarrassment.

Harry finally parted the branches of the bush and gasped in shock as he saw what lay behind it. Imagine his surprise when he found out that the voice was coming from a snake. Harry had stumbled back in his surprise and was not sitting on the ground, with a snake staring right at him, fangs out and poised to attack.

"_Give me one good reason why I shouldn't make you my lunch._"

Harry stared up fearfully at the snake, and in his fright, didn't notice that his next words had come out in hisses. "_P-please don't eat me. I was just curious when I heard a voice from the bush you were behind._" Emerald eyes watched carefully as the snake backed down, and instead, curled up around his arm.

"_Humph. As if I would dare attack a speaker._" Harry let out a breath in his relief, but then cocked his head to the side when he processed what the snake had said.

"_What do you mean, 'speaker'?_" The snake looked up at him with the snake version of disbelief.

"_Haven't you noticed that you've been speaking in the language of the snakes this whole time? The fact that you could understand what I had said should have been proof enough that you were a speaker._"

"_I'm speaking snake?_"

"_Not snake._" The reptile snorted. "_Parseltongue._"

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**One Week Later…**

_LeNoire Bakery_

_Paris, France_

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He had finally done it, he had gone out into town and with the help of a pretty lady he had gone into a bakery.

"What's your name, little one?" the lady asked, as she watched Harry struggle to climb onto the stool.

"Harry!" He gasped out as he fell down. He crossed his arms and pouted as he eyed the stool. The lady chuckled in amusement; she bent down and picked him up, placing him on the too-tall-stool.

"Oh. I thought you would have more of a pretty name. Not that Harry is a bad one." the lady said, eyeing him with her amethyst eyes.

"What's _your_ name?" Harry asked looking up at her curiously through his long bangs.

"Amour." She giggled as she watched Harry try to blow his bangs out of his face.

"That's really pretty, just like you!"

Amour smiled brightly, the action brightening up her whole face, her jewel-like eyes sparkling in glee.

"Well, I think you're the most adorable little thing I've ever seen!" She said tapping his nose with a button and laughing as he went cross-eyed.

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**Four Weeks Later…**

_LeNoire Bakery_

_Paris, France_

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Since that day four weeks earlier when Harry had met Amour, the seven-year-old had met up with her every day outside of the bakery. They would then go inside to get their usual order of tea and croissant and then they would share a cheesecake while talking about inconsequential things like the weather or their favorite things. Harry had gotten to know Amour better and the opposite held true for Amour who was delighted at the prospect of getting to know her Céleste, as she called him, better.

Sometimes the duo would be joined by the owner of the café, Gabriel LeNoire. He was a handsome young man of around 29, with an oval face, long golden blonde hair and a pair of eyes with the lightest shade of blue that Harry had ever seen.

Amour's name for him, Céleste had soon stuck with him and, though he would never admit it, Harry liked the name better.

Today, Gabriel had something important to ask Harry, and the little boy didn't want to be late. As soon as he walked up to the shop, he grabbed Amour by the hand and dragged her inside.

"Slow down Céleste. Gabriel isn't going anywhere." She couldn't help but laughed as she was pulled through the café to their usual table by the windows.

"I know, but I don't want to keep Gabriel waiting. He said he had to ask me something really important, and I _really_ want to hear it."

As the pair sat down in their seats, Gabriel appeared in front of them, holding some papers with a nervous smile on his face.

"Céleste, I know we haven't known each other for that long, but I have a request to ask of you." He looked into the large emerald orbs of the seven-year-old and couldn't help but wonder if the boy would say no.

"I was wondering… if you'd allow me to adopt you."

Harry stared up at him, wide-eyed and silent with shock. "Y-you want to… adopt me?"

Gabriel nodded a nervous look in his eyes as he looked at Céleste.

"Of course!" Harry flung himself against the older man, wrapping his arms and legs around his body. Gabriel caught him in shock, laughing as he held the smaller body closer to himself. Amour just watched them with a satisfied look in her.

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**Ten Months Later…**

_LeNoire Residence_

_Paris, France_

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"Hey Céleste, can you spare a moment for me?"

Gabriel walked into the library to find Céleste curled up in an armchair by the fireplace, a _History of Magic_ book in hand. He saw the distracted nod of his head and grinned, seating himself on the armchair directly across from him. He waited patiently for Céleste to finish the page, and his patience paid off as just mere seconds after sitting down, the boy marked his page and placed the large tome off to the side. His verdant eyes were trained on Gabriel and the elder had his complete focus and attention.

"So… you know that I'm a wizard right?" Gabriel started out, apprehensively.

"As if these magic books didn't give me a clue." He snorted with a roll of his eyes.

"Well, that's true. But… what I want to tell you is… have you ever done something, that's… for a lack of a better term, magic?"

"I went from Surrey to Paris only two minutes! That's tran… transpor… that 't' word right?" Gabriel nodded, allowing the heat from the fire to calm his nerves.

"Well, that's a form of transportation that wizards like to call Apparation. Though, since when you Apparated you didn't make that loud cracking sound that usually accompanies it, it's safe to say that you literally transported, probably by manipulating the air around you."

"So you're saying…"

"Well, I think you're a wizard, like me." Gabriel couldn't help the smile as he saw the excited look on Céleste's face.

"So… you'll teach me how to do magic, right?" He asked, leaning forward in the plush chair.

"Yes, off course we won't be using the wands that those books are talking about. I'll teach you how to do wandless magic. Besides, I'm more than sure that you have a large enough of a magical core to do that."

"Wandless magic… like when I changed my clothes?" Gabriel looked at him in shock before a bright smile overcame the expression.

"You did wandless transfiguration?!" He let out a relieved sigh as he looked back down at the child. "Well, that's one less thing I have to worry about. Transfiguration is probably the hardest branch of magic to do wandlessly, and the fact that you could do that means that I won't have to limit you. You have no idea how happy that makes me."

"So… when do we start?"

"Hmm… tomorrow afternoon, after the morning rush."

"Aww! Do we have to wait so long?" Céleste whined. Gabriel just gave him and amused look that quickly shut the younger one, a blush gracing his cheeks.

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**Three Years Later…**

_The LeNoire Library_

_Paris, France_

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"So Céleste, are you ready to meet my older sisters?" Amour looked down at the ten-year-old with a small level of nervousness, which was returned with a bright smile.

"Of course! I'd love to know who my pseudo-sister's sisters are!"

Amour just chuckled, leading their oblivious apprentice into the room that held Paix and Vérité. When they entered they saw Paix sitting in an armchair, her legs curled next to her, gently flipping through the pages of a potions journal; Vérité was lounging on a divan, her head propped up on her hand as she lazily looked up at them, though her eyes were trained on Céleste with an attentiveness that most would miss at first glance.

"Paix, Vérité, this is Céleste," Amour said as she led the boy to a sofa where they sat down next to each other, one of Amour's arms wrapped around his waist, helping him relax.

"Hello." The elder sister's eyes softened at the adorable sight they were met with; Céleste curled up into Amour's side, her arm around his waist and his legs folded next to him.

"It's nice to meet you, little one," Paix said, offering him a warm smile, her voice soft and containing a musical lilt.

"Has Amour filled you in on your position, or has she left that up to us?" Vérité had her answer when Céleste cocked his head to the side, his eyes conveying his confusion.

"I wanted all of us to be present when I tell him," Amour said, gazing at Céleste with warm affection.

"Well, kid, make yourself comfortable."

The three sisters then launched into a story of the Greek gods and goddesses and their affinities as well as the roles of the seers. They went in depth about the three seer sisters and their individual role.

"You see, Céleste, we're the sisters."

Emerald orbs widened as they stared up at the sisters in shock, but he was forced to believe it when he saw the sincerity in their eyes and the nervousness in their fidgeting.

"I believe you. I mean, I already accepted that magic is real and that I'm a wizard, why wouldn't there be some higher beings up there messing with us unfortunate mortals?"

The sisters all let out a collective breathe in relief; they couldn't have asked for a better apprentice. The other two sisters were also impressed at how mature he sounded, especially considering his age.

"Well, the reason we wanted to tell you this is we want you to be our apprentice."

"You're kidding."

"Sorry, kiddo, but that's not an answer," Vérité said chuckling.

"What do you expect me to say? No? I'd have to be crazy! Of course I'd love to, you idiots!"

"Hey, watch what you're saying, Mister. Or we'll have to give you detention."

"You can do that?" Céleste looked a little apprehensive when he saw the evil looks on all of their faces.

"I feel like I just made a deal with the devil himself."

"Sorry, but Hades has nothing to do with this."

_Fin_

**To Be Continued…**

**A/N**: Thanks to those of you who reviewed! It was nice to hear what you thought, and I felt relieved when you actually liked it. And again, to those who read "**Ares**"… is this better. I felt the need to change it after I got a review that pointed out things in that story that I had overlooked and when I went back I was all "I can't believe I actually put that down! I'm such a hypocrite!" what with my supergenius!Harry which I usually scoff at when it's there with no apparent reason. The name of the person who pointed it out is eluding me, so "person-who-pointed-it-out", thank you!


	3. Chapter II

Disclaimer: Refer to the first chapter (prologue)

**Disclaimer**: Refer to the first chapter (prologue).

**Warnings**: Refer to the first chapter (prologue) for future warnings.

**A/N**: Special thanks to _handadeath _who pointed out some things to me that made me slow down and actually help me come up with what to do with this chapter.

**A/N** **2**: Just a heads up to people, this chapter is has not been beta'd, so reviews telling me of any mistakes are welcome. Now enjoy this chapter and sorry for the lateness of it, I was originally planning on having this out by Sunday, but due to some events it's come out now.

**Chapter Two**

Céleste stumbled into the kitchen and plopped himself down on a chair at the table. Gabriel raised an eyebrow at the exhausted and harried ten-year-old.

"It couldn't have been that bad." Céleste looked at him incredulously.

"It could, and it was!"

"I thought they were teaching you about the gods and goddesses of Mt. Olympus. How painful can that be?"

"The did start me out on that, but halfway through they stopped and told me they were going to work on my flexibility!"

"What for?"

"I have no idea, every time I ask, they just smile at me in that creepy way and then I don't want to know anymore." Gabriel patted his back in sympathy before pulling the kid up and over to the island where an assortment of cooking paraphernalia was spread out.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm getting _you_ to help _me_ bake that batch of cookies Madame Miller ordered today."

"The usual?"

"Actually, no." Céleste looked at him in surprise.

"Yeah, I know. I was just as surprised. Apparently her daughter helped change her mind on chocolate and now she wants a batch of chocolate chip cookies with a couple of white chocolates thrown in."

"Hmm, well if it'll help her get rid of that silly notion that chocolate is _too_ sweet... then sure."

"Ooh, look at you, using such big words." Gabriel said with mock pride, though he gave Céleste a bright smile for wanting to help.

"Hey Gabriel, can you go over there and..." Céleste looked up at his adoptive father in shock and a bit of horror.

"Did you just flick flower at me?" He had on a wide grin, his eyes closed and for all that his face looked welcoming, it terrified Céleste. He knew that that expression meant that whatever he said wouldn't matter because he was already in _big _trouble.

"Maybe I did... and maybe I didn't." He saw the elder male's eyebrow twitch minutely before he grabbed a handful of flour and flicked it back.

"Well maybe I just flicked some back, and maybe I didn't." And with those words, an all out food-war commenced. No ingredient was spared, no surface was left untouched and for the time spent chucking food back and forth, the duo's job was forgotten in favor of bombarding anything and everything at each other.

"It's times like these that you're more of a big brother than a father." Céleste commented as the two sat on the only clean spot on the floor after their food-war.

"Are you trying to say something?" Gabriel asked with a raised brow.

"Yeah, who's the adult in our mismatched family?"

"Are you insinuating that I'm immature?"

"Don't use such big words, it'll hurt your head."

"Well... well... you're childish too."

"Are you sure your ok up there?"

"There's nothing wrong with my brain!"

"Uh-huh, you keep telling yourself that." Céleste said patting Gabriel's shoulder.

...

"Ok, now reach. Come on Céleste, you can go farther than that!" Vérite came up behind the ten-year-old and pushed his back so that his fingers touched his toes, and then so that he could grab his feet.

"Tell me again _why_ I am doing this?"

"To get you more flexible!"

"Yeah, I figure that... but, and I feel like I'm going to regret this, why do I need to be more flexible?"

"So that you can perform the fighting sequences better."

"..." Céleste stared at them.

"..." The sisters stared back at him.

"... fighting sequences?" He said weakly.

"Yeah, we usually have the odd immortal come up to us and use violence to get us to help them." Vérite said with a shrug.

"Then when we refuse, they try to kidnap us and well..." Paix trailed off for one of the others to pick up for her.

"From there on out it kind of gets messy." Amour said finishing the sentence for her sister.

"...kidnap?"

"You're not rethinking your decision of accepting the offer are you?"

"... no... w-why would I do that?"

"... you are, aren't you?"

"... yes..."

...

"Thank you for making a purchase at LeNoir bakery, we look forward to seeing you here again!" Céleste said with a smile on his face. The woman left with a faint pink blush on her face.

"Aw, look at that. You're picking up after me!" Gabriel gushed, slinging an arm around the eleven-year-olds shoulder.

"What am I exactly picking up from you?"

"Why my charm of course!" Céleste looking up at him with an expression that just read, 'You're kidding right?'.

"What? All the ladies, and some men, think that I'm handsome." Céleste coughed something that sounded suspiciously like narcissist. Gabriel just sniffed, looking hurt, though they both knew it was all for show.

"So, what do you want to do today?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, that was the last order of the day and we're closed. The sisters had to go and take care of some things leaving the two of us alone to relax and I thought that we could spend some time bonding or something along those lines."

"Um... I guess."

"You _guess_! Don't you want to spend some time getting to know your father, the one that cooks, cleans and even helps you hide from the sisters, and we all know that that fact alone should get me your eternal gratitude."

"... you're kidding right?"

"Of course not! Do you know how hard it is to face the three of them, _lie_ to their face and not end up kneeling before them begging to be spared for deceiving them?"

"... when you put it _that_ way, TO THE LIBRARY!" The order was so spontaneously loud that Gabriel was taken aback and he wasn't even given the time to calm his heart beat before being _dragged_ by a child, who's half his height, to the library.

"It's the price you pay for being an awesome father."

...

"DUCK!" Céleste dropped to the ground, the knife soaring over his head and getting stuck to the wall. With a racing heartbeat, the eleven-year-old stood up, his head looking around wildly to see if there were any more dangerous projectile soaring in his general direction.

"Are you three _insane_?! I could have been stabbed! You could have taken out my eye, or something else essential to my continued existence!"

"We're very sorry. We got a little carried away with your training, and kind of forgot that we hadn't taught you how to properly take care of flying projectile... forgive us?" Amour looked so downtrodden that Céleste couldn't properly stay mad at her.

"Fine." With a squeal, the sister charged with his protection and guidance jumped on top of him, her arms wrapping tightly around his frame and practically squeezing the life out of him.

"So... I think we should start teaching him how to duck and dodge. What do you think?" Vérite looked at their apprentice with a smirk and a glint in her eyes that showed just how much she'll enjoy chucking sharp, pointy objects at him, all in the name of teaching.

...

"So when exactly are they going to take you up to see the gods?" Gabriel asked at dinner.

"If everything goes according to schedule, then a week or so after my majority." The twelve-year-old said, taking a minute to properly enjoy his chocolate mousse cheesecake.

"So seventeen." Gabriel shook his head in amusement as Céleste gave him a minute nod, giving his full attention towards enjoying his dessert.

"I'll look forward to that. They seriously won't know what hit them. Obedient servant? I think not." Gabriel smirked as images of the gods reaction to his son filled his head.

...

"So what's one thing you learned about Zeus?"

"He's a man-whore." The sisters were trying not to laugh and at the same time trying to keep from looking too horrified.

"W-well, that's true."

"I mean seriously, most of that family tree branched out from Zeus. They weren't kidding when they said that he's the most important out of the twelve Olympian gods. But seriously, I didn't think they meant it like that!"

"First of all, you're twelve and because Gabriel will try to kill us if we don't say something about it, we never want to hear that word come out of your mouth again." Vérite scolded him, though Céleste didn't look at all contrite.

"Ok, but I was just saying what you guys were thinking, and besides... it's a scientific fact."

"... is that your defense?" Paix asked with a raised eyebrow, receiving a nod back from their apprentice.

"... we really have to work on that."

"So... does that mean we're gonna take a break from all this boring stuff, skip over the dangerous bit and go straight to the awesome part where you don't even need to fully use your brain?" Céleste had a hopeful look on his face as he looked up at the sisters with his work-in-progress puppy dog eyes.

"... no. We're still going to do all of that, while belittling you so that we can figure out how many comebacks you have exactly while throwing sharp pointy objects at you in the name of teaching." Céleste only had enough time to gaze up at them in fear before being attacked with a whip while having his intelligence insulted. He already knew that it would shape up to be a _long_ day.

...

**A/N**: So... like it? Hate it? Wish it'd spontaneously combust.

So originally, I was planning on this being a 14 something pg long chapter, but it didn't work out. So I decided that I would split the original chapter up into a couple parts.

So... what did you think? Leave a review so I know if I should do anything different in the next chapter (Part II).

**A/N 2**: So I just received an e-mail from my beta saying that she'll no longer be able to carry out her beta duties due to her hectic schedule. So this pretty much means that this chapter is UNBETA'D and that I now have an opening for a beta. So... any takers?


	4. Chapter III

**Disclaimer: **Refer to the first chapter (Prologue).

**Warnings: **Refer to the first chapter (Prologue) for future warnings.

**A/N**: So… the story is no longer on hold! But don't hold your breaths over quick updates — I wouldn't want to kill off some of my faithful reviewers. Um, yeah. So enjoy the chapters while they come out because the minute school starts up again, you'll have to do without these; I'm taking four AP classes (among which is AP Chemistry — that counts for like 5 AP classes by the way).

So… I still haven't caught up on the ABVH story line, and quite honestly I don't think I want to.

Though, I have things planned. If anyone knows the Bloody Crumpets… I'll be doing a nod to them (I **am** a faithful plague rat though I haven't been able to see her live).

So enjoy this **short** chapter that will hopefully help all of you survive until the next chapter.

**Chapter Three**

"What are we making?" Celeste tried to peek at the instructions but Gabriel intercepted and hid the papers from view.

"You don't need to know. Just follow my directions and everything will turn out fine." The thirteen year old was far from pleased but stopped himself from voicing his less than happy thoughts; with a pout, he simply nodded.

In this manner the duo went about brewing; Gabriel would tell Celeste to "cut this", "chop that", "stir now" and Celeste would carry out the instructions.

What seemed an eternity passed before father and son were finished.

Satisfied —and injured in the case of the teen— they bottled and labeled the potion..

"Felix Felicis! **You **know how to make Felix Felicis?"

"Oui. Why are you so shocked by that? I have a mastery in Potions; it only makes sense that I would know how to make this."

"B-but it's **you**! How do you know the ingredients? Or the directions? I mean, most Potion's masters only know one or the other; how do you know both?"

"It's a secret. If I told you, I'd have to kill you."

" You **must** be kidding."

"Mais non! Je suis serieux!" _But no! I'm serious!_

…

"Do you see anything?" Amour looked at him hopefully.

"You mean, other than my reflection?"

"Maybe you just need to try harder?" Her voice rose at the end, turning the suggestion into a question. All the same, Celeste huffed and puffed his cheeks in iritation; he pushed away from the table, almost toppling the crystal ball that was perched on a purple satin pillow.

"I give up. You've been trying to get me to see into this bloody thing for three days. It hasn't worked so far, and it won't any time soon. Maybe my inner eye is blind!"

"No, no. I can sense it. It's definitely there, and it's strong; maybe not as strong as ours, but it **is** strong enough to use a crystal ball." Gently, she pulled him back over to the table and sat him down.

Thinking quick, she closed the gauzy curtains — filtering the light.

Searching the room, she was able to locate some incence and the accompaning holder. Lighting it, she waited for a handful of minutes — allowing the scent to diffuse through the room.

"Try again now." Sighing, Celeste reached within himself and gently led a string of his magic through his body and into his fingers.

Hovering his hands over the crystal ball, he allowed his magic to cloak the crystal before opening his eyes and searching through the fog.

"Umm… there's a blond man — very pretty — walking to a… house?... on top of some mountain. Now… he's talking to you but you just shake your head and close the door his face… now there's an old man with a long beard and he's accompanied by a woman — slightly younger — and a man – kind of resembles a vampire – and they're giving me a sock and .. I just disappear…"

Trailing off, he glanced up at Amour, who was wearing a troubled expression.

"Amour?"

"Hm? Oh, there's no need to worry about that; Paix, Verite, Gabriel and I will make sure to keep all old men away from you; no one will whisk you away like that.

For some reason, her words did not calm his heart as they usually do.

A dark, foreboding feeling settled in the pit of his stomache.

On the outside he mustered up a smile; he didn't want Amour to be concerned.

…

"Pop quiz!" Celeste groaned at Verite's happy announcement.

"You're going to kill me before the year's end."

"Well thank you for setting my new goal. Now stop talking and start writing!"

Grumbling in anger, Celeste followed her order and started filling out the first row. It was easy enough — he was given a rune and then he had to write a translation for it on the line next to it. When he finished the whole page he let out a happy sigh.

"Done!"

"No you're not." She sang. "There's a back." As he flipped it over, his eyes started bugging out.

"I can't do this!"

"That's okay. I'll just have to take a couple of your fingers as compensation for the time I wasted writing up that paragraph." With a put-upon sigh she approached him with a sharp dagger.

"N-no! That's ok. I think I figured it out!"

It was an agonizing hour of translating later before he was finally finished.

"Done! For real this time."

"Oh! Look what I found! The second page! Silly me; I guess I forgot to staple them together!"

Celeste let his head fall and hit the desk with a dull – THUD!

…

"—THE HELL!"

The morning had out started bad, and that's how Celeste knew the rest of the day would be just as bad.

He had woke up by falling off the side of his bed; his head hitting his side table on the way to the floor. After confirming he wasn't bleeding, Celeste then proceeded to wrestle with his bed sheets — and lost.

When he had finally gotten himself untangled and went to the bathroom, he slipped on a wet patch and fell hard on his ass.

Cursing up a storm, he stood up — rubbing the injured area.

Facing the sink, it was then that Celeste was made aware of one fact — he had lost two feet worth of height while sleeping.

"GABRIEL!"

…

**A/N**: So... like it? Hate it? Wish it'd spontaneously combust.

So I don't think I'm going to look for another beta. I'll just edit the chapters myself. But, I'm not perfect (and Word is far from that) so I would like to ask you guys to point out any errors in the story when you review. Also, if you think I'm moving the story along too fast, if the characters are getting OOC (my originals especially) and whatnot, please point these out so that I can fix it!


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